How could you use a poor maid so?

"Oh, as usual, dear."
I knew I'd sung the praises of season 7 too soon. Or I should have known it. I'd posted to a discussion list about how the series seemed to have regained the sense of dynamism and structure which made seasons 2 and 3 such a joy. The twists and turns that constantly outwitted my expectations. The biggest problem I had with seasons 5 and 6 was that the Big Bad was revealed early on, and then they spun their wheels until the finale. Glory is revealed to be the villain and then the details are shaded in but it still means that in the majority of episodes, she runs on the spot like Wile E Coyote without the blinka-blinka-blinka noises, whilst Buffy ran away or blew the odd raspberry. Likewise, Willow is clearly set up as the Big Bad, but then diffused and attention given to the Trio until bang! she’s back on again.

Contrast that with season 2 where episode 3 introduces the new Big Bads as Spike and Dru set up in town. Right up until What’s My Line, it seems we know who the villains are. Until Buffy drops an organ on them. Even so, Dru rises from the wreckage with her broken toyboy in her arms. Then we get the Surprise as the whole setup is inverted and we realise Angel is the real villain. So Big and so Bad that Spike – the usurped Big Bad - does a deal with the Slayer.

So season 7 seemed to be telling us ‘the Big Bad is going to be the First Evil’. ME aren’t stupid, they know the hardcore audience will have spotted the clues and rushed to our video/DVD collections to rewatch Amends. I, however, assumed that they had rediscovered the concept of bluffing us, putting in twists that overturn our – and Buffy’s - world. There’s been all this talk of ‘back to the beginning’, all these echoes of the first three seasons when there was always a twist to the tale (the love-interest is a vampire, the love-interest is the Big Bad, a Slayer has gone rogue etc). I didn’t expect my speculation to be right – it’s off the scale in terms of OTT – but I also didn’t expect the obvious answer to be, well, the answer. I feel used: led to expect something far greater, far more impressive, only to find that ME’s promises aren’t being kept.

I’m holding onto a hope that there’s going to be a big twist, sometime around episode 14 (i.e. the equivalent of Surprise/Innocence, Bad Girls/Consequences or even Goodbye Iowa). We are, obviously, only at the point of What’s My Line or Amends.

But if they are really are going to have the First Evil running on the spot making blinka-blinka-blinka noises until the finale then we have to admit that ME have well and truly lost the plot.